


Balance

by wolfbunny



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Captivity, Gen, Hunting, kemonomimi skeletons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28815777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfbunny/pseuds/wolfbunny
Summary: Stretch had told him not to make friends with a wolf, but under these circumstances, his options were limited.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Balance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [In_the_aroace_brigade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_the_aroace_brigade/gifts).



> Secret Santa fic! I usually only do pictures for these things but I wanted to write something to go with it and then the fic outgrew the picture.

Sans and Stretch were whispering together again, but Blueberry ignored them. He wanted to make sure they had enough food to share if the other bunnies came up short, so he had to collect more than enough berries for them and Papyrus. At least Papyrus pulled his own weight—he wasn’t sure what had these two so worried, but they were even less effective gatherers than usual. “I don’t see any berries in your basket, brother!” he called, not so much annoyed with them as hoping to distract them from whatever they were discussing. There couldn’t be anything so wrong that it would merit the strained atmosphere that had come over that pair in the last few weeks!

Of course he’d asked what was worrying them, but they’d refused to tell him. “It’s nothing,” said Stretch, and Sans had nodded in agreement. So Blueberry could only go by the snatches of conversation that he’d overheard—something about the increasing number of skeleton monsters in the area, and feeling off. Blueberry could understand that more monsters needed more food and resources, but that just meant they needed to prepare for the lean months even better than usual—and besides, skeleton monsters were less susceptible to winter than many.

There was one more reason he wanted to gather plenty of berries, that he wasn’t going to tell his brother or Sans about—Papyrus, maybe. Blueberry had grudgingly agreed when Stretch insisted that it was too dangerous to make friends with larger or predatory monsters even if they were fellow skeletons, but that still left the birds, squirrels and mice! There did seem to be more of them lately, and Blueberry could swear he’d seen a squirrel in a very fashionable bandanna much like his own. So far he hadn’t managed to have a proper conversation with one, as they apparently considered a bunny large enough to be frightening. But perhaps if he offered them some food!

Speaking of squirrels, there were two on a branch above him right now, chittering at each other and glancing down at him. One even had a bandanna, though it was ragged and not so stylish. It looked wary, but the other was staring at the basket of berries. Maybe this was his chance. Blueberry glanced back toward Sans and Stretch, who had been ‘taking a break’, relaxing next to a berry bush and eating everything they picked. He couldn’t see them now, which meant they wouldn’t interfere with his attempt to befriend the squirrels.

He picked up a handful of berries from the basket and held it aloft. The squirrels stared at him but didn’t move. Where could he leave the berries so that the squirrels would feel brave enough to come a little closer to him in order to get them? “Don’t be afraid,” he said softly, not wanting to scare the rodents or alert his companions as he looked over the tree and its total lack of horizontal flat spaces within his reach.

The squirrels flicked their tails in alarm and ran back to the trunk, disappearing behind it. Blueberry’s ears wilted. Had he spoken too loudly? No, he felt a presence behind him—Stretch must have come up and scared them. He turned to scold his brother and found himself face-to-knees with a wolf. A skeleton wolf, but a wolf nonetheless.

“Oh, stars,” he gasped. Where were Stretch and Sans? They would have warned them if they could, even when running for their lives. But they must have had to slip away silently; maybe the wolf hadn’t seen them and they hadn’t been able to risk attracting his attention. Blueberry let his gaze travel up to the wolf’s scarred face. His ears were ragged and his teeth sharp. Red eyelights gleamed back down at the bunny.

“Hey there, little bunny,” the wolf said, smiling.

“Oh, uh! Hi!” Blueberry let his face slide into its habitual smile, too. Stretch had told him not to make friends with a wolf, but under these circumstances, his options were limited. “I, um. It’s nice to meet you,” he ventured, not sure what kind of small talk he could make with a wolf.

The wolf snorted, amused. “Yeah, you too. Just the kind of little bunny I was lookin’ for.”

“I am?” Blueberry took an involuntary step backward. He couldn’t imagine the wolf shared his interest in interspecies friendship.

“Absolutely,” the wolf said, showing a glimpse of scarlet tongue as he took a step closer, and Blueberry dropped his basket and bolted, first around the tree to hide himself from the wolf’s line of sight, then deeper into the woods. When he thought he was definitely out of sight among the foliage he swerved off and hid himself under a bush, panting. Once he caught his breath, he would have to find his brother and—

“I’m not the kind of wolf that enjoys a merry chase, you know.” The wolf leaned over to peer in at him through the lower branches. Blueberry hadn’t even heard him approach—how could such a big monster have such a light step?

Blueberry pushed himself through the thicker leaves behind him and out the other side of the bush as it snagged at his ears and clothes, and ran again, not quite as fast as the first time now that he was out of breath. This time he intended to run until he couldn’t run any farther, or until he was able to circle around to his burrow, but he found himself running right into the wolf again.

The wolf caught him with one hand, slowing him down before he plowed face-first into the larger monster’s legs. “Hey, come on, you didn’t even tell me your name.”

Blueberry backed away and the wolf let go, holding up his hands innocently.

“I’m Red,” he offered. 

“I—I’m Blueberry.” The bunny tried to form a proper smile. Maybe the wolf wasn’t so bad and he’d been scared for no reason. Red didn’t even seem to be offended that he’d run away. “I’m—sorry, I—”

“No need for that,” said the wolf, his tone kind. “I know how you bunnies are.”

“You—you know other bunnies?”

“I’ve met some.” Red’s grin was less kind.

Blueberry fell silent, but he was afraid if he let the silence drag on too long he would bolt again. “So, um. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.” He managed to smile at the humor in the idea that he might just not have noticed a wolf. “What, er, brings you to the neighborhood?”

“Got an errand to do here,” Red answered, pleasantly at first. “Gonna reduce the numbers of skeleton monsters.”

Blueberry froze. Red smirked and made a grab for him, but Blueberry had run back the way he came.

What kind of errand was that? What did Red mean by—It didn’t bear thinking about. Blueberry focused on running, refreshed by the brief pause between frantic flights; and at least this time the wolf wasn’t between him and home. Soon he found himself not far from where he’d left his basket. Briefly he entertained the notion of course-correcting to snatch it up on his way by, but at that moment he saw the wolf ahead of him again, among the berry bushes. He skidded to a halt and ducked behind a tree. He had only intended to figure out which way the wolf was going so he could circle around in the other direction, but when he heard Red’s footsteps they were alarmingly close. He couldn’t move without risking the wolf hearing him, if indeed he hadn’t already heard the pounding of his soul in his rib cage.

Red walked past, thankfully not coming around to Blueberry’s side of the tree. “Where did that little bunny get to?” he was muttering to himself, easily audible to Blueberry’s sensitive ears. “Ah, well, I guess I can find a little blue squirrel or somethin’ instead. I already got the other two bunnies anyway.”

“No!” Blueberry gasped, then clasped a hand to his mouth.

The wolf had heard him. Not only that, but he was suddenly in front of Blueberry, not on the other side of the tree, and the bunny had no idea how he’d gotten there. “There you are, Blueberry. Why do you keep running off like that?”

“What did—what did you do to Stretch and—to the other bunnies?” Blueberry demanded, even as he pressed himself against the tree and tried to sidle around it.

“Nothin’ much.” Red didn’t make a move to follow him. “Told you, I’m s’posed to reduce the numbers of you little skeletons around here.”

“Why—What do you mean?” Blueberry was torn now. How could he run away and leave Stretch to whatever the wolf had done with him? But if the wolf wasn’t going to give him a straight answer, perhaps his best bet was to escape first and then track the wolf in secret.

“Here, I’ll show ya.” Red pounced, and Blueberry’s mind was made up to run, barely slipping between the wolf’s fingers as he darted away. He put on all his speed; any other strategy could wait until there was distance between him and Red. No one could keep up with a bunny running full-out.

So he was surprised when the wolf dropped on him out of nowhere. Red did seem able to move silently, but surely he couldn’t have caught up to Blueberry without making a sound. His first thought after failing to dodge was that a tree branch had fallen on him, but there was no mistaking the wolf’s fingers as he was lifted from the ground, or his teeth.

“Wait, no!” Blueberry screeched as the teeth pressed into him. Surely Red wouldn’t just—he wouldn’t want a mouthful of dust, would he? But was the alternative any better? Blueberry froze for a few seconds, then squirmed desperately, kicking and flailing the arm that wasn’t caught.

The wolf chuckled and spit him out.

“Is this your idea of a joke?” Blueberry demanded as he got to his feet, but his outrage deflated even as he spoke. This wasn’t the same place he’d been a moment ago when Red had grabbed him. He hadn’t been paying much attention to his surroundings other than the teeth, but before that he’d had to pay enough attention to the forest to avoid tripping or smacking into a tree, and he was sure he hadn’t seen any metal surfaces or bars. “What is this? Where—?” He looked past the bars. This wasn’t the same area, these weren’t the same trees—

“Blueberry?”

There was something much more important than trees beyond the bars, though he’d looked in the wrong direction at first.

“Stretch! Sans!” Blueberry instantly pressed himself against the metal bars, reaching for them. But the space between their cages was wider than the length of his arm. “Are you okay?”

“We’re fine, aside from the cages. Are YOU okay?” Sans answered.

“Did the wolf bite you?” Stretch sounded worried.

Blueberry stepped back to pat himself down. Nothing hurt, and there wasn’t even much wolf drool. “Not really!” He to look around for Red, only to see the top being closed on his own cage. “Hey! What’s the meaning of this?” he demanded, kicking himself for not jumping out while he had the chance. Maybe he could have freed the others, too—no, he had to. He caught sight of Red standing a few steps away watching him thoughtfully, then putting on a sneer when he realized Blueberry was looking at him. “Don’t ask me, I’m just the hired muscle. You okay in there, bunny?”

“I’m fine, but nevertheless, how dare you!”

“I thought bunnies were supposed to be timid,” said another voice. Blueberry spun around in time to see the monster lean down to look in at him.

“Who are you?” Blueberry was tempted to retreat to the opposite corner of his prison, but he shook off the instinct and planted his feet firmly, glaring up at the second intruder. He was another skeleton, with a splotchy black marking but without any fur, so Blueberry couldn’t guess what his animal component was supposed to be. Perhaps a lizard? But he didn’t have any visible tail, furry or not. “Did you lose your tail?” Blueberry had heard lizards could regrow them, which would be interesting to hear about except that rescuing Stretch and Sans came first.

The stranger blinked, and his eyelights changed shape and color. “That’s what you want to ask?”

“Do I only get three questions?” Blueberry tilted his skull.

The stranger laughed. “No, I’m just surprised one of you has something to say other than ‘Let me go’ or ‘Why are you doing this?’”

“That was going to be my next question.” Blueberry’s ears tilted back.

The skeleton rolled his eyes. “You don’t want the universe to implode, do you?”

Blueberry tilted his skull in the other direction.

“I’m not explaining it again. Red, you can tell him if you want while I figure out where to put these ones.” The skeleton walked away past Stretch and Sans’s cage, where there were yet more cages scattered around.

“How many monsters have you caught? What are you going to do with them?” Blueberry called after him. The skeleton ignored him, so he turned to Red, who looked as if he’d been about to slink off. “Red?”

“Can’t really help ya since I don’t understand it myself,” the wolf said with a shrug.

“Please, Red? You know more than we do.”

Red relented with a sigh. “Somethin’ to do with too many ‘duplicates’ around here.”

“Duplicates?” It made no sense to Blueberry.

“Lot o’ you little skeleton monsters runnin’ around, I guess.”

“But we’re all unique!”

“You don’t gotta tell me. He says your world here is gettin’ out of balance.”

“Skeletons aren’t heavy enough to unbalance the world,” Blueberry objected.

Red only snorted in amusement.

“And what do you mean, ‘our’ world? It’s your world too, surely! Where are you from, Red?”

“Somewhere else,” the wolf answered cagily. “Somewhere I can’t go back to.”

“And that’s why you’re hunting us down like this?” Blueberry guessed that had something to do with why the wolf was following the other monster’s orders. “Why don’t you just stay here with us instead?”

“You’re a sweet bunny, but it ain’t that simple.” Red gave him a smile with hardly any sneer in it.

“Oh, Red?” the other skeleton called, and when Blueberry looked over he saw him open some kind of portal in the air and toss a cage through. “You could catch a few more squirrels.”

“All right.” Red turned to trudge back into the forest, but stopped to call over his shoulder, “Make sure you send the bunnies somewhere nice, huh? And keep them together.”

“Whatever you say, Red!” the other monster answered with a bright grin that Blueberry somehow didn’t find reassuring. “You’re the boss, after all.”

Red frowned at the insincere remark, gave Blueberry a last wishful glance, and disappeared suddenly. Blueberry reached through the bars toward his brother again, and this time Stretch reached back, their hands meeting in the middle, providing some comfort as they awaited their fate.

**Author's Note:**

> There's definitely room for a sequel .... or an alternate ending >w<


End file.
